September 2006

I'm feeling especially grateful this week for all of your kindness. There have been so many nice comments from people this week. Not anything in particular, just so kind, and I'm so touched that people take the time to do that. Really. And then, after yesterday's post, I've got so many of you sending me links to prints like the one I was looking for, or, scrambling around your own stash searching for just the one I'm looking for (I'm still holding out hope for the Munki Munki! I have faith!). Without this blog how could I possibly find anyone to understand, let alone assist in the fabric love like that?

And then there's this so, so generous mail. A package arrived this week from Heather, full of all these goodies and more. Ribbon, an old knitting book and vintage paper dolls for me, some beautiful clothes that her daughters wore for Adelaide, and a special bag of treats (and gorgeous rocks!) for each of the boys. There have been finger puppet sessions every day since it's arrival. Such a treat. Calvin's most excited about the photos of her girls (who are two most adorable children, I might add), as he was thrilled to see "someone else who likes to match as much as I do!". And do you see that beautiful vintage growth chart? I think I gasped when I saw it - it's gorgeous. Thank you, thank you, Heather.

And making the week's mail even sweeter was this package of treats from Tracy. In the midst of her own busy life (and I must say that if my children were in school, I only hope I could have the dedication and committment that she's got right now, being so committed their education. Bravo), she sent along a bunch of pajamas for Adelaide, including some with Maine maps! - happily removing one thing off my to do list for this fall (make pajamas for Adelaide.). Hooray for that. And much to my boys excitement, there was a vintage How and Why book about dinosaurs. Rock on. And a kids CD mix that we've been listening to non-stop since it arrived. Thank you, Tracy!

There are so many intellectual, emotional, and creative ways that blogging has impacted my life, and I could go on and on about them (oh, and I do). But sometimes the tangible reminders of it all are so nice. Yesterday, on a rainy morning, at one moment we were in the midst of a finger puppet show performance, Adelaide was wearing these PJ's and the CD mix was on. And I looked around and saw beautiful art on my walls. All of this from people I've never 'met,' and likely never will, people who live so far away from us, but who have extended generosity and kindness our way that touches my heart.

We have this tradition of buying a 'first doll' on the second solstice/christmas. (Gosh, writing that out it sounds so random). We get them locally, but from the Q'ewar Project, which assists women in Peru. (I blogged about Ezra's 'Stanley' here.) Everytime I post about these dolls I get emails reminding me that I could make them myself. Perhaps (and that's a big perhaps!), but they would be nothing like these gorgeous dolls made by such experienced women. They're beautiful.

So anyway, this is Adelaide's year for her doll. And I want to make a doll quilt to give her too, one that will last perhaps beyond this first doll into others (if she's interested in doll play, of course). I completed this Little Red Riding Hood redwork early this summer, thinking it would be the center of said doll quilt. But so far, these are the only two fabrics I've gathered to use. I can't stop thinking about the old Munki Munki Little Red Riding Hood fabric and how great it would be to back the whole thing in that. I can't find a picture of it online anywhere - do you remember that one? So, so cute, and I'm kicking myself for not picking some up then. But you see, now that THAT fabric is in my head, I can't imagine anything else as the back and so now I'm frozen on the project. And now December is looming. So yeah, I know...move on, Amanda. Or, as my dear sweet husband now says, "make it work." (I love that he loves Tim).

So by now you've seen many corners of my home. But have you seen what's hiding in the corners of my home? Marbles, coins, caribiners, blocks, dominoes, vintage buttons, playmobil hair, rocks, acorns, and more marbles.

I'm losing a battle with these little bits and bobs. I step on them, I fall on them (yes, stepping on a rolling marble can most certainly result in a fall. stop laughing!), I nag about them (though, really, the boys do an awesome job trying to pick up all the little bits, and um, see how many of them are mine anyway?) , and sometimes I don't even see them. But Adelaide does, and right now her major life goal is to find as many of these itty bits of things as possible, to hold them tightly in her hands until I see her, and then to pop them in her mouth, laughing all the while. Which makes my seemingly full-time goal right now, to get them first. But she's winning. This is one day's worth of her 'chokeable, and therefore it must be SO cool' finds. One day. She's pretty hard core about her work, too. I mean, she's serious when I'm about to get there first, and the chase is on, and she squeals in delight as she runs across the room from me.

For those of you thinking what I did before I had two (and three) children, let me stop you right there to say, it's impossible. It is impossible to keep all the 'little' toys up and away with older siblings around. Luckily, there's some sort of magical resiliance that later children are born with. Thank goodness for that.

And so, we play this game. And did I tell you she's winning? And I have an odd feeling that as soon as this stage is over, I'm going to seriously miss stepping on a lego, or chasing her around the room with one in her hand. Well no, maybe I won't miss stepping on them. Ouch.

Fall isn't so bad, really. I mean, look at this. It's everywhere. This was on our drive home from swimming at the Y yesterday. We were excited to get home and go for a walk in the woods, but first our 30 minute drive home took over an hour, because I kept stopping for photos. The boys were as excited as I was, "look! there's a yellow one. You've GOT to stop for THAT one!". So great. We're peepers. Hee.

And speaking of fall, I'm feeling the brown corduroy love right now. It's made it's way into every single project I've worked on this past week (more coming later!). I don't know if I'm the only one, but there is something so comforting and nostalgic to me about soft brown corduroy. Is it just me? There's also something comforting about a familiar pattern, one you've made so many times that you don't need the instructions for anymore. For me, that would be Amy Butler's In Town handbag. I've loved this bag, and made it for SO many people in the past few years. It's just the right pace of simplicity in pattern and style for me. I love it. Comfort crafting, if you will.

Most of the bags I make these days are for sale, hence, from my own patterns. But since these aren't, it was fun to go back to a favorite comfy pattern. Two will be soon headed to silent charity auctions, and one, well, one's for me. Because if there's one thing I love about fall, it would of course be these boots (okay, and the leaves and the apples and the crisp air. But the boots. Let's not forget the boots). And these boots really need a new bag this fall. Oh, but which one. Decisions, decisions.

(Special thanks to Wendy for the yummy green floral fabrics, and to Calvin for the last photo. I so need to get that kid a camera.)

I must share with you some eye candy from my new favorite local
source for crafty goodness. This month, Edith & Edna expanded their
shop to include a craft basement. Woohoo! Owners Brandie and Julie have put
their crafty-blog love to use hunting down all sorts of quality stuff - loads of patterns for
sewing, knitting, and embroidery by all the greatest designers of the
moment (seriously - they're all there!); kits for getting
started in just about any crafty endeavor; a bookshelf full of crafty
books (where I would like to spend an afternoon, please); fibers from Maine; vintage fabrics
at very affordable prices, and I saw (okay, I was nosily poking around) some
vintage ephemera being packaged up to sell too. Yum.

I love suporting small and growing independent craft companies online, but I'm thrilled to have a local business that I care about too. Now, if I could just find a way to spend the night in there, rolling around in the vintage fabric and reading all the fabulous books. Hmnn...maybe there's a market for sleepovers for the craft-obsessed! Brandie? Julie? ;)

I wish I was bringing you photos of the merriment of my favorite fair - complete with local fibers and fiber artists, my children visiting the animals, the yummy organic food, and so much more. But, alas, we didn't go. I got sick on Friday night (what a bad joke - me getting sick on the last day of summer, no?), and then it rained all weekend, making the idea of driving two hours to walk around in the rain with three kids (and a sick mama), not so appealing. I'm bummed - you know how silly I am about tradition and such! Oh well. I do feel most badly for the people who have been working so hard for months to get ready for the fair, and then were faced with such poor weather and turnout, resulting in a loss of revenue for all those hardworking Maine organic farmers, artists, and vendors. I do hope the brief sun this afternoon provided some salvation for them.

So instead, the first weekend of fall was spent in bed, and over a kettle of steam, trying to breath. So far I'm the only one in the house sick, but I'm bracing myself for what the week ahead might hold.

Oh, the photos!A glimpse of two 'new' things in our lives last week. For Calvin, riding a bike without training wheels. Big stuff, I tell you. Exciting stuff. And like I've seen a million times before already, once kids 'get it', they really get it. So now he's moved beyond that big feat and is working on plans for building a half pipe. Oh, I'm not kidding. And my 'new' thing? A Lensbaby. I could take the temptation and inspiration no longer. Parallel to Calvin learning to ride his bike this week, this Lensbaby is going to take me a bit more time (okay, more than 'a bit'). But if I can get any inspiration from my child, I'll wake at dawn and work on it till I've 'got it' myself.

Practice, Practice, Practice.

**disclaimer: This isn't the helmet Calvin usually wears, and so the fit isn't quite right, we do know. A proper fitting helmet is very important. Thank you for your concerned emails. ;)

Ah, Summer. So much beauty. I was reminded each day of how grateful I am to be living in a spot of the world that I love, and to be sharing it with - and seeing it through the eyes of - these amazing little people too. We'll be kicking out the season summer-style today. Can you guess how? By going to the beach, naturally.

Enjoy your last day of summer! (or, winter, if that's where you are!) Here's a summer favorite of ours:

When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy, And the dimpling stream runs laughing by; When the air does laugh with our merry wit, And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;

When the meadows laugh with lively green, And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene; When Mary and Susan, and Emily With their sweet round mouths swing, "Ha, Ha, He!"

When the painted birds laugh in the shade, When our table with cherries and nuts is spread: Come live, and be merry, and join with me, To sing the sweet chorus of, "Ha, Ha, He!"

I've still got a few more days of 'summer' until the Common Ground Fair this weekend, my annual mark of summer's end. Outside, we've been blessed with amazingly warm, summer-like weather, and many September beach days to keep me happy. But, slowly...I'm seeing some signs of the season change trickle inside. Our nature table this morning has a few red maple leafs scattered about, many fallen acorns and chestnuts, and new fall 'apple tree' paintings.

And another sign. A table full of projects at the end of the day. After spending nearly every night eating outside in the summer (one of my favorite things), the dining room table needs to be reclaimed for eating once again. It starts the day empty, but by the time it needs to be cleared for dinner, it's full of our projects du jour. Watercolor paintings drying, kids embroidery projects in progress, and mama 'work' projects too (13 months catch up on photos!). Whenever it feels like a hassle that our space is so multipurposed (i.e. small!), I try to remind myself of how lovely it is to be surrounded by our creative 'work' - and that we're truly living, breathing (and eating on!) a creative life.

So, the other day I was doing some mending. And I started to feel a strange mix of ridiculousness / pride at patching up these jeans. I mean, first of all, they were hand me downs to begin with. Free. (thank you, J!) And then Calvin wore them so much that they needed a few patches, which then got ripped again. I'm a bit puzzled as to why I then decided they were worth 'saving' for the next child. But I did, and so just this week, I dragged them up from the basement for Ez. They went right in the mending pile, as they clearly needed more patching. So as I was sewing them up and having this conversation in my head about the logic of this whole thing, I had an odd sense of deja vu.

Which led me to dig around my closet, until I found these. My jeans from junior high school. Thrifted, plenty patched (same blanket stitch for crying out loud), and embroidered. (By the way, they don't fit now, and I can't imagine that they ever will.) I'm not really sure what all of this says about me.

I'm thrifty? Um, perhaps.

I'm insane and can't throw anything away? Nope, not true!

Old habits die hard? Yes, I'm sure that's it!

(And yes, this is post #3 in a row in which you see the yummy pear fabric. Oh, but it isn't gone yet!)

A little bit of organizing helps everything, doesn't it? First up was my email mess. I think I got back to everyone, but if you're still waiting to hear from me about something, do try again, okay? (and sorry 'bout that!) Next up -the blog. A new banner, tidying up those sidebars, and all that. I've been changing the banner each season, and I know this one is still quite 'summer.' But you might recall that I haven't admitted to fall yet. And besides, I love the beach all year, so there you go. Let's call it the 'late summer' season banner. I want need to see that photo everyday for a bit, to be reminded of where I am standing in the world.

The next pile I tackled was my 'unfinished project' pile, or rather mountain, as it truly is. I found all sorts of forgotten projects, including the kids placemats that I started, um, last January when I made the big people versions, which must have abandoned for one reason or another. But freshly supplied with my new Superbuzzy fabric (which rocks beyond description), I felt suddenly motivated to finish them. I think the other motivation was having an excuse to use the 'fancy' (as Calvin calls them) stitches on the Bernina, which I never thought I'd love so much.

The boys were pleased to be eating their snack on them today. Calvin thought it was absolutely hysterical that he was eating carrots on a carrot placemat, and then Ezra discovered he was eating apples on his placemat with apples (no, I really didn't plan our meal to match the table linens), which sent them both into fits of laughter that soon had said apples and carrots coming out of their noses. Yes, I suppose that is very funny.

Um, wow. I just re-read yesterday's spew. Apparently I was in deep need of an attitude adjustment. Luckily, it was nothing a little rescheduling, wine, ice cream (hot fudge sundae, thank you very much), and 'fun' crafting couldn't fix. Ignoring the piles and serious to-do lists around me, I went right to work on sweet Olive. Forget the dinner breakfast dishes. They can wait. They're still waiting. (I like to pretend it's just the dishes that are waiting 'to be done'. I also like to pretend I actually do the dishes. Thanks, hon.)

True to Hillary's reputation, this design is adorable, and the pattern flawless and easy to follow. It was such a pleasure to work on something where the biggest decisions I had to make all night were which fabric dress she should wear (I went for my much loved pears from SuperBuzzy). Ah. Much better. This morning, she's been the Giantess of our Castle, as you can see.

Olive even got a PlasmaCar Golden Chariot ride to the castle.

And after a rainy morning here, the sun just came out and we're about to hop in the minivan Golden Chariot to the beach. Because I'm not one for delaying a craving. And then, after that, we'll all be breathing much easier. And then, then I'll really get to work.

{have a good weekend, everyone! I think I'm going to give myself a long blog weekend. Be back on Tuesday!}

Phew. I'm wiped. It appears that we're at the end of a very busy summer with lots of activity and travels, many busy birthday festivities, and lots of 'work'. And this week we rolled right on into our fall 'schedule' of a few activities for the boys, and while it's still really mild compared to most, it's busier than we've ever been. And I'm not quite sure that I like that. I'm feeling about 10 steps behind the kids (for example, this and this, and shall I mention the vintage button -that I didn't even know she swallowed-- that was pooped out on the same day? or the way in which my boys have suddenly taken to pounding each other to show their affection?). It isn't where I want to be. I'm slightly on the overwhelmed side, and desperately craving to be home and nowhere else right now. Except maybe at the ocean - at that very spot in the photo above. Feeling the sand under my toes, and watching and listening to the waves come in and hit my legs. Yup, I'm definitely in need of a beach visit this weekend. Besides that, I want to do nothing but be at home. Perhaps some totally fun crafting (Olive, Archive and Very Special Things are all calling to me right now). I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen - we've actually got another busy weekend ahead - but perhaps just dreaming about it will help, don't you think?

You guys all seriously rocked my world this week, by the way. With all the birthday wishes for both babe and I, and then all the super kind words about Adelaide's book we made. Funny thing about the blog. I mean, we made that book and between the five of us, we were pretty psyched with how it came out. But then to get all that kind, kind feedback from you is just like an icing on the cake that is the project, you know?

I owe a ton of people emails, and replies to questions in the comments, and phone calls and thank you cards right now. If you're one of them, please don't give up on me. I'm coming. Just give me a minute to catch my breath.

This is the big project we've been working on here for a couple of weeks, a gift for Adelaide. The boys and I made her a fabric book. They wrote the 'story,' choose (and took some) of the photos, and I turned it into a fabric book. It was definitely a learn-as-you-go kind of project since I didn't even have a fabric book in the house to copy the construction of. Yikes. Basically, I used two layers of batting for each 'page', and sandwiched them all together. It's a rather long book, actually, which made the sewing near the end a bit wonky. And because I felt challenged enough by the construction of it all, I went for the easy package of pre-treated fabric, ready for printing on. Oh, and the fabric - it's all scraps and leftovers from projects I've made her in the past year, mostly her clothes. Because, you know, I'm trying to raise a sentimental fool like myself.

Just a few of the pages. The boys wanted it to be a book about 'things and people she loves'. So there's lots of family photos, and pets, and favorite toys, and favorite spots in the world, and of course, those shoes. Can you read that first page? "This is you, Adelaide. Sometimes we call you Goo Goo, Baby Goo, Ada, Lady A, or Adddie. You have so many names because we love you soo much." Um, yeah. I pretty much balled when they told me those words to add.

These are my favorite pages. They each did a portrait of Adelaide for the center of the book. I love Ezra's "Adelaide in pajamas".

I don't know who was more excited - Calvin, to read the book to Adelaide, or Adelaide, to discover her shoes were in there, and on her feet at the very same time. So very very sweet.

This would be the crown that almost wasn't. In the busyness of MY birthday celebrating I nearly forgot to make Adelaide her birthday crown, which is a very important (probably more to me than anyone else) birthday tradition in our house. Thank goodness this all came together smoothly and according to plan, albeit 11:45 pm. I only had a few small pieces of hand dyed wool felt left, so thankfully the striped pink/brown thing worked. Phew. It's lined with another layer of felt, and has elastic in the back. That "A" on the front makes me want to sqeal. I do think I need one.

Funny thing about third babies. Sometimes the standards get a bit, shall we say, relaxed. Take first birthday cakes, for example. Calvin's first birthday cake was made with tofu (no joke), Ezra got carrots, and Adelaide, well, she got the chocolate (okay, it's carob. But still!). Of course the irony, is that she had NO interest in the chocolate cake. She was mostly just pissed off that I cleared her tray of the broccoli. Go figure.

So, who's birthday is it, anyway? While she babbled and goofed with her crown, her brothers opened every present. You know, to help her. She hasn't developed a love of the wrapping paper yet, though I do suspect that by Solstice / Christmas, these brothers of hers are going to be out of a job.

A very fun one year old birthday, for sure. Thank YOU for all her sweet well wishes and good thoughts. They'll be printed off and added to her (nearly empty...oh, the guilt) baby book. I can't believe that my baby is becoming a toddler.

One year ago today we were welcoming this sweet babe into the world, and wondering who she would be, and how she would fit into our family. One year later, we know her as a vibrant, snuggly, sweet, strong, happy, beautiful little person with a gentle old soul. She's got a calmness and confidence about her that inspires me. And she's got a giggle in her that brings such tremendous joy to our family. How blessed we are. We'll be spending her birthday doing her favorite things: the sun is shining here so we'll be playing outside with lots of time in the swing, baking and eating cake (and ice cream!), opening a few little handmade-by-brothers presents (I can't wait to show you those tomorrow!), giving lots of snuggles and kisses all day long, singing happy birthday many many times (because she giggles and dances each time), and eating broccoli for dinner (her favorite!).

Thanks to all of you for sharing in the joy of parenting with me...from my pregnancy, birth, and her baby year, she's been such a presence on this blog that I feel like some of you 'know' her in a way too. And I'm touched that that kind energy from you has been a part of her life 'story'. Before she was born, I was worried about September 11th as her birthdate, but now I think it's just perfect - something to celebrate and rejoice in, and a sweet reminder of the circle of it all.

You are all just SO sweet. Really and truly sweet. And kind, too. Thank you SO much for all the lovely and generous birthday wishes. It was a treat popping in and out of the house during my grand birthday festivities and reading the new birthday comments as they came in. What little bits of joy each and every one of them are! I thank you for that!

The celebrating has been MUCH fun. I've been completely spoiled and feel so full of so many of my favorite things - family, friends, the beach, breakfast in bed (prepared by my favorite babes), a city I love, museums, a few favorite shops (where I showed remarkable restraint, I'll have you all know), and, well, ice cream. Plenty of ice cream (I hope you had some too!). Boston was great...it's such a fun city, I do think. A little nutty with three kids, but you know, an adventure to be sure. We did a mix of both family outings (we opted for the mellow-ish Aquarium...and it was just our pace), and then, thanks to my dear and very brave sister and her beau, Steve and I had some time for wandering around on our own, which was a bit heavenly. I always feel slightly like a country mouse in a city - it's so alive -I just want to sit and watch and take it all in - the architecture, the sounds, the people. (Flickr birthday set here, by the way).

I must say that my favorite birthday moment, though, was arriving at a very special beach in a gorgeous afternoon fog, and finding it all to ourselves for a bit. Running barefoot on the sand, splashing in the waves with my little ones, watching and hearing the waves crash on the rocks nearby....Wow. That moment - and the mix of contentment, bliss, and love that I felt at that moment - was the best birthday present ever. 30 already is a very good year.

Yup, today's the day. I was planning on writing 30 Things About Me on my Thirtieth Birthday. But added to last years list, that makes 59 things about me, which is really far more than anyone needs/wants to know. It got boring after #4, I assure you. So instead, you get a Calvin photo of me (with a mysteriously fuzzy brother).

I'll be spending this day on the beach with my family (yay for the sun!), with the afternoon reserved for a Mama nap (Ah..). A family picnic by the shore, and then drinks out with the girls. And lots and lots of ice cream all day long. Tomorrow we'll head to Boston for some museum wandering, a bit of shopping, and dinner too (complete with a babysitter!). I can't imagine a more perfect way to celebrate a new decade in my life. I feel full of my lovely family, blessed by beautiful friends, and excited about some big projects in the works (not pregnant. Stop it.). I've been looking forward to 30, and now that it's here, it's proving even better than I imagined it would be. I think it's going to be a very good year.

I'm hoping that today, you too, have a spell on the beach, or a Mama nap, or at the least, a bit of ice cream. We all deserve a little bit of ice cream.

I'm of the belief that, whenever possible, every celebration should start with a new pair of shoes. Adelaide and I have some celebrating to do (more on that later), so some new shoes were most definitely in order. These shoes also fill my annual 'hanging on to summer as long as I can - if only by the clothing' habit. We've got two glorious days of sun in the forecast this week, and we are so definitely beach-bound. I won't admit/embrace fall until the annual Common Ground Fair at the end of September. So there's still a few more weeks left to wear my celebratory summer shoes. To the beach.

The boys and I are working on a project for Adelaide (more on that later, too), so Calvin staged and took this photo of Adelaide's favorite shoes. (The photo just about kills me!) We're really a baby-mocassin-as-long-as-you-can kind of family, but Lady A has a thing for these shoes. First thing in the morning, she hunts them down (tossing aside her mocassins) and walks around with them in her hands, grunting and motioning until someone finally puts them on her.

Here's my sweetie with the 2006-2007 winter hat I just finished. I've made him a new one each year that we've been together. You see, he's got that adorable round bald head (hmn..seen any of those in my family?) which gets mighty cold in a Maine winter and needs covering. He plays and works outside all winter, often wearing his hat under a hard hat. Wearing a wool hat under a hard hat each day leads to lots of pilling and fuzzies. Hence, the new hat each year.

That may sound sweet and all--you know, that I make him a new hat each year. But I wonder about the price he pays for that new hat. It begins in August, when I assess the fall hat situation and start asking what kind of a hat he wants this year. "Roll brim? Cables?" And then I start pestering about colors. "Shall we go with rust this year?" Then, there's of course the trip to the yarn store, which I simply must take alone, leaving him with three babes for a couple of hours. "just a quick pop in to the thrift store on my way home! Can you start dinner?". And then we get to the knitting, which involves ignoring him for several late nights. "What's that? Let me finish this row!". And more than a few whining pleas, "Honey, can you get the ice cream? I'm making your hat!". Even when the hat is complete, there's more. "Just one blog photo, honey."

Sometimes I think he's just going to show up some September day with a store-bought hat, and be done with it. But he doesn't. He eagerly awaits the one I make him, and he properly oohs and aahs over it, and lets me take blog photos of him wearing it, tells everyone I made it, and acts like he really loves it. And I really do think he loves it. Which is just one of the many reasons why I really love him.

The hat? It's Halfdome from the fall issue of Knitty. I like that it's a rather simple-looking roll brim, but knit with the raglan-style decreases I love.

Eireann is so very sweet. Look at this, will you? It arrived last week out of the blue, and so I presumed when I pulled it rather unexcitedly from the mailbox, that it was the Mary Martin Peter Pan video I had ordered. Can you imagine my excitement when I discovered that it was this? This amazing package of lovely, yummy, sweet old vintage quilt circle hexagons (I know there must be a better name, but it escapes me). I'm SO thrilled, and so pleased, and so grateful!

I haven't decided exactly what these beauties shall become. The mix of colors make me so happy. She sent them along in response to this post, when I referenced the japanese patchwork book Li sent me, and mentioned wanting to make a similar handbag. But it gives me a bit of anxiety to split them up, or even worse, cut them up, for you know, something as temporary as a bag. I mean they've managed to survive this long in the world already, I feel under some obligation (of the good kind of obligation) to put them into a quilt somehow. You know, to finish the job, so to speak. I'm still deciding. What do you think - quilt? handbag? Something else?

Some pillows I finished last week. I'm trying to brighten up our living room a bit...since our spring paint fest, the colors in this room have never been quite right. But summer came and we were outside so much that I did my best to ignore it. Now that we're headed back in a bit, something must be done about it, or I'll be batty by November. To avoid repainting (yeah.That's not happening again), my plan is to just change everything else about the room (ha!). Starting with these pillows. Then a new rug (I'm dreaming about this one. Too bad there's no local discount. Sigh.). I have a ridiculous habit of moving furniture around constantly, switching up rooms, and rearranging. Steve came home from work last week, and I had moved our bedroom into another room with no warning. Thankfully, the kids get all into it and get nearly as excited as I do. They come up with all sorts of crazy creative furniture arrangement ideas (though, the firepole from the bedroom to the kitchen really tops it all. Someday.)

And thankfully, the pillows pass the 'pillow test' in our house. They're good for jumping on.

I love this town. And this view above is partly responsible, it's from my parents backyard, where I grew up. My bedroom, on the ocean side of the house, is where I heard the sounds of the waves, and the traffic of the harbor every night as I fell asleep. I blame that fact as the reason I can't be too far away from the ocean for too long, or my breathing changes. Really. I love being within minutes from a handful of beaches, and at the same time, not very far from the mountains. I love being so close to a city, and at the same time, close to true wilderness. I know there are beautiful rivers, forests, and beaches everywhere, but these ones, and this town, are so close to my heart. Which is why, even though we toy with the idea of leaving sometimes, I'm pretty sure this will always be my home. And I must selfishly admit that I particularly like Portland this time of year, as school starts and the tourist season ends, because we get a little bit of the city back to ourselves. The beaches are emptier, the shops less crowded, and the parking spaces aplenty (I'm so terrible at parking, I even make my out of town city-visitors do it for me!). There's just a little bit more room for breathing the salty air.

Thanks for playing along with my week of love! It was a lovely little change for me, and I think I might pop a What I Love post in again once in a while. Next week, I've got lots of crafting to share, and some birthday celebrating to do! Yay!

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Greetings! I'm Amanda Blake Soule - mother of five, author of three books on family creativity, and editor-in-chief of Taproot Magazine. I live with my family in an old farmhouse in Western Maine where we raise animals, grow vegetables and make lots of things. I write about it all here on the blog. Thank you for visiting!